puzzleoflight

For those of you in the Atlanta area, I'm currently looking for a home for an incredibly sweet cat. For those of you that know me, know I'm allergic to cats, hence the reason why we don't just keep him.

We've nicknamed him Keaton. He looks to be maybe a year old, male orange and white tabby. He's fixed and extremely sweet-natured and affectionate. I really, really want to keep him, but I can't.

There are a lot of outdoor cats that live in our neighborhood. The two we see most often are Saucy, our neighbor's black and white spotted cat, and Keaton. Keaton sort of follows Saucy around (Saucy is very much an alpha-cat, if such a thing exists). We know Saucy belongs to our neighbor because we've talked to them about him. We assumed Keaton belonged to somebody because he was wearing a collar.

However, Keaton exhibited some behaviors more common in feral cats and I started mentioning to Nigel that I thought he was a particularly well-socialized feral. I'd heard of instances where a group of people or a neighborhood took it upon themselves as a group to contributed to the feeding and care of a particular animal. This happens a lot on Tech campus, as there are several 'cat stations' scattered across campus for all the ferals that live there, where students will continue to fill the animals' food and water dishes.

I proposed that something similar might be going on with Keaton, since he occasionally acted feral, but would solicit random strangers for food or attention. One day, Nigel finally checked Keaton's collar and found the tag reads, 'Neighborhood Outdoor Cat'. Armed with this knowledge, we didn't feel bad when we started feeding Keaton when he came around begging for food. After only a day or two, Keaton decided he was going to have free run of our house and would run inside the moment we opened the door.

It's been about two weeks and two things have become apparent: Keaton really wants to be a housecat, and Keaton really wants to be our cat. The problem is, my allergies aren't just a minor annoyance that will go away with medicine; they're pretty severe even when I'm pumped full of drugs.

On top of that, while the idea of a communal cat is a nice one, no one has really addressed the idea of what happens to Keaton when its cold outside, or storming badly, or if he gets sick or injured. I don't know who else, if anyone, in the neighborhood is helping to care for him. I know that if it's raining or he's hungry, or frightened, he comes to us. I know he eats almost a whole can of catfood every day, which makes me think no one else is feeding him. This is a student neighborhood; almost every house is a rental and tenants usually only stay from six to nine months before moving. Nigel seems to think that Keaton was once someone's pet who was abandoned when the owner moved and that the owner gave him the collar in the hopes that other people's goodwill would take care of the pet they no longer could or would care for. I'm not sure he's too far off.

At any rate, he wants to be kept, but we can't keep him. If you are in need of a sweet, well-behaved, loving cat who can be a little skittish from life on the streets, but really, desperately wants to be someone's pet, then please let me know if you can take him. I figured I'd check here first, before approaching any cat rescue organizations, but if nobody claims him in the next week or so, that's what I'm going to do.

Today started out okay, with Nigel and I grabbing donuts at Sublime Donuts, then heading up to JoAnn's to pick up a few things for another NPC costume and various costumes and props we're working on for the next game. We got home, I ate lunch, and then started the cutting for Adrian's costume. I got one of the main pieces completely cut out and pinned before I got incredibly dizzy and tired and decided I really needed to lay down right then.

I woke up five hours later, still feeling like ass. I'm a little achy and utterly exhausted so I think I may be having a very sudden, very bad flare. I know it sounds weird, but I hope that's what it is because there's a possibility Michael has pneumonia and Charlie wasn't feeling well on Friday. Aside from the exhaustion and dizziness, I've also got a fairly constant headache and noticed, when trying to eat dinner, that food just tastes wrong. I couldn't finish eating because of it.

Either way, there was a lot I needed to get done today that just didn't happen and that seriously, seriously sucks. I really wanted to knock out at least part of Adrian's costume tonight, for one thing. There's a joint project Nigel and I are working on for the game that I'm pretty sure I can do from bed, so when he gets back from the store, I'm going to see if he wants to work on it now. I just feel so bad because I had so much to do and, right now, I just can't. :(

So there's apparently an alternate history/steampunk track at D*C this year who are having a photo-op/meetup and a ball on Friday night. Because of that, I decided to pull Mattie's old 'formal' costume out of the closet and dust it off for this year. I'm making a few changes to it, though, starting with new boots and tights, adding a fascinator and maybe a few other bits here and there as I come up with them. I was considering adding some applique or buttons to the front of the costume, but wasn't sure if that would be too much. Any suggestions?

I'm also considering breaking out the old coat and putting together a quick aviator's costume. I have pretty much everything for it already, except for the scarf and cap.

I'm still doing the couture Alice, obviously, and I'll be bringing Katrina still, though lord knows she needs a good pressing. Beyond that, I'm not sure. I don't have a ton of time to make anything other than Alice and some modifications to the steampunk costume. We'll just have to see, I suppose.

Next week is the last week of classes for the semester. If I can make it to the end of the week without killing my math professor, I'll be golden.

This weekend is shaping up to be insanely busy. Other than the scores of housework and sewing I need to do today, and the weekly plot meeting, Nigel's parents are going to be in town this weekend, we have three different parties we've been invited to and our weekly tabletop game on Sunday.

This, of course, also doesn't factor in the studying or homework I have to do. I really need to shoot my final photography assignment this weekend, but I'm not sure where we're going to find the time. I'm already pretty sure we're not going to two of the three parties and may not be able to make any of them. I won't be crazy disappointed if that happens. I like hanging out with people, but there are more important things that need to be done.

Beyond that, the FoD event is in two weeks (conveniently, immediately after finals) and there's a bunch of stuff we have to finish before then. The sewing's only part of it. Fortunately, it looks like Nigel's actually ahead on most of what he needs to do. Me? Not so much.

I've managed to screw up my right arm from the shoulder to the elbow. Right now, I have 800mg of ibuprofen in my system. How in the hell am I actually getting a headache?

I've had a bad day, so here are some pictures of the shibori dye process I did on some fabric last weekend.

( This way. )

Remind me not to do a huge dye project immediately upon waking up. It's only 1:20 and I'm utterly exhausted. Fortunately, I don't have anything else I have to do today, other than cook dinner and some studying this evening.

The shibori block dyeing turned out really nice and, once the fabric is done rinsing and drying, I'll be taking pictures of it. I won't be able to have pictures of the completed costume until after the event, but the dye effects on the fabric look pretty cool and I thought you all might want to see them before I cut it up to make the costume.

My nails are a mess right now, though, because I was using black dye. I look like I've been digging in mud with my bare hands. Well, this is the reason I don't bother doing my nails anymore; I do too much handiwork and I'd just end up tearing them up anyway.

Once the fabric's done rinsing, I'll hang it up to dry, then go grab something to eat. After that, I think I'm going to embroider for most of the afternoon, though there may be a quick store run to pick up some bleach (for the washing machine) and thinner needles. I didn't bring my full sewing kit with me to Nigel's and all of the needles he has on hand are too thick to do any sort of beading (I'm doing some light beading along with the embroidery).

After a conversation with Nigel this morning, I've decided to do something a little different with the new Etsy shop. Instead of just being sewn goods, like wall hangings or pillowcases, Nigel's also going to be contributing small carpentry projects like spice racks, shelves, and cabinets. Because of this, it's going to be more of a general home goods shop, as opposed to just a fabric and textiles shop. And, because of that, I'm going to eventually be shutting down the bath and body shop and merging it with the general home goods shop, that way everything is in one easy-to-access place.

I've decided on a name for the shop: Robin's Egg Home Decor, which isn't anything that anyone suggested, but the slogan is going to be 'Tactile treasures to decorate your nest', which means silverstah technically wins the name game and is welcome to request (or choose, once the site is up) something handmade by either Nigel or myself. :)

I've registered the name, but there isn't anything in the shop so far. I'm guessing we won't have everything completely up and running until the beginning of August, but that's not terribly far away. For the time being, though, we need to finish other projects before we start stocking the store. Look for updates in the coming weeks though. We're both really excited about this.

I slept pretty late this morning, waking up around 10:45. After some quality snuggle time with my honey, we then grabbed lunch and did a monster round of grocery shopping. It's now 4:30-ish and we've been done for maybe fifteen minutes. I can't believe where the time's gone.

Unfortunately, Nigel and I both have a lot to do today, other than grocery shopping. I need to take some photographs for my photography class, for one, and do some math studying, for another. I also need to do some more sewing on the cupcake dress and dye the cloth for Adrian's costume if Nigel gets the wooden blocks done in time.

Somehow, I don't think all of that is going to happen.

I will be doing the photography and the studying, definitely, and maybe some sewing, but I think I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow to do the dyeing. As we have our weekly tabletop game for most of the afternoon, it will have to be in the morning. Nigel also has an engagement for tomorrow morning, so I'm thinking getting up early is a good idea.

After the hell that was this past week, I decided today would be a 'do nothing' day, where I didn't do anything I didn't want to do. The only exception to this, however, was a quick trip to the girly doc to renew a prescription. That didn't take very long, fortunately, though I am out another $50 because of it.

Other things I have done today include a visit to Michael's to pick up some crystals and a smaller embroidery hoop for work I'm doing on the Cupcake Dress, and a random trip to Ikea because I was feeling restless and wanted to do a lot of walking around. Then I splurged, but only a little, and only on things we really needed.

EJ is supposed to be moving out at the end of this month (and technically I'm supposed to be moving in, but I'm here practically every day of the week anyway) and we're not entirely sure what all he's taking with him. Right now he and Nigel share several things, including towels, dishes, cookware and even their car. I'm leaving the car thing up to Nigel to suss out, but I figured there wouldn't be any harm in getting a few dishes and glasses in preparation for when EJ leaves.

While I was at it, I also picked up an additional set of sheets for the bed, since we've only got the one set and the bed sits bare while they're in the wash. This way we can throw on the emergency backup sheets if there's ever a sheet emergency.

I managed to finish everything, doctor visit included, before 3:30, so now I have a couple of hours to just goof off until it's time for me to pick up Nigel from work. Then after that, it's off to the weekly FoD plot meeting.

This weekend, I start studying for a test in math on Tuesday and shoot one of two photography assignments that are due on Wednesday, plus start dyeing the fabric for Adrian's costume (assuming Nigel is able to get my wood blocks done in time). This weekend, and the next week or so, is going to be pretty busy, so I'm taking my downtime where I can.

I think I've decided I'm going to open a secondary Etsy shop focusing specifically on textiles. I've been getting the urge to make all sorts of pillow cases lately and I don't have room for that many pillows! I have plenty of fabric scraps that can be turned into all sorts of lovely things: pillowcases, obviously, but also table runners, brooches, wall hangings and lord knows what else. My only stumbling block is that I can't seem to come up with a name for the shop.

So I'm asking you... what should I name it? I'll custom make something similar to what I mentioned above for the person who comes up with the shop's name.

Looks like Nigel and won't make KG until October, instead of August. There's still a tiny chance we'll be at the August game, but after having to pay the cost to replace my driver's side window and the fact that we'll have to board Aiden if we do go, I'm thinking it may be more cost-effective to wait.

Isn't October when they do their masquerade thing anyway?

I've got some interesting costuming to do over the next few weeks. One of the NPC costumes I'm making for FoD requires some interesting dyeing techniques that I'm looking forward to using. I can't really say too much about the costume, other than I'm going to be using a shibori block technique with some irregular geometric shapes to make some very cool patterns. The cloth will then be made into something much more structured than you usually see with shibori dyed fabrics and I hope the effect will be what we've intended. At the very least, I get to do some experimenting, which I always enjoy.

I'm also starting work on the 'cupcake' dress for KG fairly soon. Since I need that one before Dragon*Con, it's higher on my list of priorities. I'm going to start with the skirt and overskirt, then move on to the blouse before finishing up with the bodice. Since I plan to have some fairly extensive embroidery on the bodice, I want to do it last. Having most of the costume completed before then will keep me from getting discouraged if it's taking too long.

Finally, I'll be starting Alice for Dragon*Con in a couple of weeks. I know it's a long shot, but I was wondering if anyone else would like to do 'couture' versions of Alice in Wonderland Characters? Sort of high-fashion interpretations of the usual costumes. If not, it's no big deal, but I thought it might be fun to see a couture Cheshire Cat or Queen of Hearts or something similar (bonus points if you can make the Queen of Hearts not look like something from a goth-loli clothing line). It would be an interesting challenge, to say the least.

Someone broke into my car last night. They smashed the driver's side window and ripped out the stereo. I didn't have anything else valuable in the car.

I don't have theft insurance, only liability, so I'm having to pay for this out of pocket. Because I'm having to pay out of pocket, I can't afford to go to the doctor. Yes, I'm still sick. I hope whoever did this gets hit by a car.

Nigel's car and our neighbor's car (we all park in the same driveway) was fine. I don't know why they chose to only break into mine. Either way, the car is in the shop because I have to replace the driver's side window. I'm not going to bother replacing the stereo, though they didn't manage to get into the trunk, which is where the six CD changer is stored. I guess I can sell that?

Meh.

I called my mom to let her know and she said, "I don't understand why these things keep happening to you. You have the worst luck."

Well, yeah. I'm not blowing smoke up anyone's ass when I say I'm the unluckiest person you know. If it happens to anyone, it'll happen to me. I guess I ate babies on a regular basis in a former life, or something.

Anyway, because of the car being broken into, I couldn't make it to class today (we didn't discover the break-in until we were leaving this morning), so I've been doing other things. I faxed off a form that needed to be sent to complete my KSU registration and went to the Puppetry Museum to take pictures for my photography class. I'll have to develop and print those tomorrow, and go in early tomorrow morning to do it, since I couldn't make it to the darkroom today.

Nigel stayed home today to help me with things. Right now he's taking a nap. I'm a little too stressed to nap, so I'm researching dyeing techniques.

And so it goes....

These were taken by Jandi a few months ago at the GA Renfest.

( First, a picture of myself I don't hate. )
( Nigel and I are teh cute. )

In the spirit of having Nigel experience other area LARPs (FoD was his first one, so we're trying to show him what else is out there), the boyfriend and I are planning on going to King's Gate sometime this year, most likely the August 28-30 event.

Now, I've had issues in the past with finding a character that fits in with the KG style of play. Some of you may remember that I've so far gone through three different characters at KG, none of which I particularly enjoyed playing. Thus, when coming up with a new concept for the game, I had to think long and hard. I finally came up with something that fits with Nigel's own character concept as well as something that I think will be fun to play. That said, the character I've created is, well, sort of silly.

Nigel's planning on playing a Duergar weaponsmith and, originally, he asked if I'd be interested in playing a Duergar as well, since he wanted our characters to be a couple (something we, so far, haven't done in a game). After trying for a couple of days, however, I couldn't come up with a Duergar character concept I really liked, so I scrapped the race idea and made the character human. Also, I decided I wanted to play something that was really different from my usual assortment of tomboys, so I made a character that's really, really girly.

So my new character concept? Confectioner. I plan on making various sweets beforehand and bringing them to game to sell. I've especially been interested in learning candymaking techniques recently, so she'll also give me a good excuse to start a new hobby. Because the character is so frilly and girly, however, I realized that I have almost zero costuming that would be appropriate for her. So, I went fabric shopping yesterday.

I'm going to look like a cupcake. The fabric for the costume is primarily bright blue and sweet pink, with a little bit of off-white (for the blouse) and a tiny bit of light yellow in the embroidery. I'm really looking forward to making it, though, because I'm working with bright colors, which always makes me happy, and because I'm going to be doing some embroidery on the bodice and I really enjoy embroidering. The finished costume is going to be over the top and adorable, and I'm excited about it, which is good because I haven't been excited about sewing in quite a while.

Long day today. I'm feeling a good bit better, but after all the stuff I did today, I'm planning on spending most of tomorrow and Sunday in bed. There's a party Nige and I will probably attend tomorrow night, assuming I'm feeling well enough, but other than that, the goal for this weekend is to mostly take it easy.

Today was really busy, however. We started out by going by Nigel's bank so he could get some financial stuff straightened out, then headed over to Hancock Fabrics to pick up some patterns for their 5 for $5 sale.

Most of the patterns I walked away with will be used for FoD stuff. One is for an NPC that is premiering at the next event, one is for one showing up later in the season and one is to teach Nigel how to sew by creating a costume for one of his NPCs. We also got a random Simplicity pattern with some nice coat designs and something else for a secret project of mine which I hope to debut sometime in August.

After Hancock we grabbed some coffee, then headed up to Discover Mills to hit some of the outlet stores. I went to the Neiman Marcus Outlet first, because the last time I was there they had bras in my (impossible to find) size. No such luck this time, but if any of you ladies are an E cup, they had a pretty big selection of those as of this afternoon. I was a bit disappointed, but pleased that I managed to find a pair of jeans that fit over at the Levi's outlet. I wear a 12 short, so unless I specifically go to a Levi's store, those also can be difficult to find. The jeans weren't terribly discounted though (only $30), so I only bought one pair. If I get really desperate, I'll go back and get another pair.

After that, Nigel and I just wandered around Discover Mills for a while. Fortunately, I'd forgotten that there was a Frederick's of Hollywood outlet there as well and I was very, very lucky to find a number of reasonably priced things in my size! I know some of you out there are pretty close to my own bra size, so if you're looking for larger cup sizes/smaller band sizes that don't break the bank, I can't recommend the store enough. I walked away with three well-fitting bras and three pairs of matching panties for less than $70. That totally made my day (and I think Nigel's too).

We finished our wandering the mall with a trip to a weird little ethnic store that had all sorts of strange but nifty things. We picked up two props and some costuming for FoD, and I picked up an oil called Honey Almond that I'm considering using as a new soap scent. It smells really, really yummy and, if I don't use it in soap, I may just use it for everyday wear.

After that, it was back to my house to retrieve some things we'll need for later this weekend, and after that we finally went to our weekly FoD staff meeting. We just got home a little over half and hour ago.

So yeah, crazy busy day today. Overall, I didn't feel too terrible, though I am definitely achy and exhausted. I'm very much looking forward to my long day of rest tomorrow and Sunday. Then, Sunday night, it's back to the grindstone since I need to take some pictures for my next photography assignment.

I'm playing hooky today.

Okay, that's not entirely true. Yes, I didn't go to class, but I also feel terrible and have spent most of the day in bed. I've been having a moderately-severe flare for the last week and a half and trying to move this morning was very difficult and painful. On top of that, I've had the sniffles all day which I originally thought was an allergy attack but, after copious amounts of Claritin, I admit might actually be a cold.

*sigh*

Fortunately, I don't have anything immediately pressing and can spend the day in bed, trying to feel better. I do have some errands to run tomorrow, though, and I have a photography project to shoot over the weekend. I'm hoping I'll feel better by then.

One bright spot of news is that we got my car back from the mechanic this morning. The repairs didn't cost much and the car isn't overheating and now has working air conditioner. The transmission hasn't been giving me any trouble so far, but I'll keep an eye on it. I'm still expecting I'll have to take it in to a specialist to get that fixed at some point, though.

Beyond that, nothing new to report.

Note: neither of these are mine, but I can get you the contact info of the people who are currently looking after them.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that Nigel and I were getting a puppy. The puppy, his siblings and their mother were rescued from a shelter a few months ago because they were going to be put to sleep. My friend Caitlin has been taking care of them ever since and has found homes for everyone but the mama dog.

She's approximately three years old, and most likely a spaniel/hound mix. She's white with black and liver spots and speckles and floppy ears. She is incredibly sweet, quiet and one of the calmest dogs I've ever met. She's aching for attention, so she's an absolute lovebug who will put her head in your lap and is content just to be near to you.

If Nigel and I had a bigger place, we'd most definitely take her, but since we've already committed to taking Aiden (the puppy), we just don't have room for another dog. If anyone is interested in meeting her, I can get you in touch with Caitlin and you can pay her a visit. I know that she's fixed and is up to date on all her shots.

In similar news, someone posted on the Atlanta LJ community about an 11-month old shepherd/Australian Cattle Dog who was abandoned when her owner decided a $600 pet fee was too much to continue taking care of her (and don't get me started on that... I'd like to give that guy a piece of my mind). The people caring for her found her wandering around their apartment complex and say she's a very sweet and playful dog. You can find more information, including contact info in this post.

Hopefully one of you out there will be able to give one of these sweet dogs a home.

I know I haven't been posting much. Since I got back from Disney the week before last, school has pretty much been kicking my ass. Today is the first day I've had in weeks that I actually have time to sit down and goof off on the internet for a while. Unfortunately, being busy means a whole lot of things have happened. Hopefully I can remember them all.

Firstly, GSU has denied my appeal for financial aid, saying that I didn't provide enough documentation to make my case. I think I mentioned that already. However, I don't think I mentioned that I've applied to Kennesaw State as well and there's an extremely good possibility I'll be going there instead. See, I did the math, and even with the driving back and forth a couple times a week, I'd still save roughly $1000 a semester if I went there instead of GSU. At this point, fighting for what I shouldn't have to at GSU seems kind of like a waste of time, honestly. Especially since I know Kennesaw won't deny me aid.

Speaking of financial aid, my refund for the summer semester finally came in. There have been a few splurges here and there (mostly on food... I need to stop eating out as often), but the majority of the money has gone places like bills and rent. Also, I've got a fair amount banked so I can fix my car, hopefully for good. Its in the shop right now for cooling problems (yes again) and because the air conditioning is no longer blowing cool air. It's still having transmission issues, I think, but I'm going to probably have to take it to a specialist for that. I'm just hoping the damage isn't too bad.

School is busy and frustrating. I'm doing reasonably well, but I don't think I'll be attempting another summer semester anytime soon. All my classes feel terribly rushed and I have almost zero time outside of classes and school work for anything else.

I've only been doing minimal work on FoD lately, but now that it's closer to event time, I really need to buckle down and finish up a few things. Fortunately, I don't have too much to do before the end of July, but I need to start checking things off my list.

I haven't really done any sewing in quite a while and I'm finally getting the itch to make something again. If I ever get the time to do it, I'd really like to start on the Alice costume for Dragon*Con. Also, Nigel has asked that I teach him to sew, so I should also be doing that in the next couple of days.

As for Nigel, he's hardly got any time as well, since he's working a summer job and has a separate internship. We spent a lot of time together at his place last week until his air conditioner went out on Sunday, so now we're spending a lot of time together at my place, which is more cramped, but still nice and cool. Supposedly, his AC should be fixed by Wednesday, which is when I'm also hoping my car will be fixed.

And, as of August 1st, I'll be moving in with Nigel down in Home Park. We signed the lease about two months ago, so its not like this is a shock or anything, but it just registered how soon August 1st is going to be. Fortunately, school ends July 23rd (or around there), so I should have at least a week to pack for the move. At least, I hope I do. Time is at a premium these days.